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What a TV Time export really contains

September 5, 2026 · 2 min read

A TV Time export is not one file, it is a small archive of six overlapping CSVs. The good news: only one holds the essential of what you want to save — the list of episodes you watched, with the date you watched them. The rest is convenience, repetition, or columns nobody will ever read.

The six files, one by one

The export measured here held 136 shows, 4,671 episodes and 322 films, across six files.

  • series_episodes_vus.csv — 4,671 rows — the only one that really matters: one watched episode per row, with its date
  • series_vues.csv — 136 rows — one row per show, with an episode counter and a favourite flag
  • series_import.csv — 136 rows — the same list, in English, meant for importing into another service
  • series_dernier_episode.csv — 133 rows — where you had stopped, show by show
  • films_vus.csv — 322 rows — the films, title only, with NO year
  • letterboxd_import.csv — 322 rows — the same films, WITH the year, in Letterboxd format

Two things to know before opening the files

The first: what you wrote is not in there. No column carries your ratings or your comments — that is the subject of a separate article, because it is the real loss in this migration. The second: one column lies about its name. It is named as if it held identifiers from one catalogue, and it holds another catalogue's — and that detail, checkable in three seconds, is why a naive import would fail on the entire file.

What to take away

Remember two things. Your history sits in a single file — the watched-episodes one — and that is the one you must not lose. And everything you wrote inside TV Time is not there: neither your ratings nor your comments. That is not an omission on our side, the export itself does not carry them.

Who it is for

For anyone who downloaded their export and does not know what they are holding. For anyone hesitating to delete the archive to free up space. If you are trying to obtain an export today, this article will not help: the service is closed.

FAQ

Which file should I keep if I keep only one? The watched-episodes file. It is the only one with dates, and therefore the only irreplaceable one.

Can the .zip be imported as is? Yes. We read every CSV inside it and merge the results.

Are the six files always the same? We measured one real export. Column names may depend on the account language — our reader accepts both sets, French and English.

Last updated: August 16, 2026 — WatchTrail data verified.

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Also read: Switch trackers without starting over: Trakt, Simkl, IMDb, Letterboxd · TV Time is shutting down: how to save (and reuse) your history · The best TV Time alternatives in 2026 (an honest comparison) · Why I built WatchTrail (right as TV Time was shutting down) · What order should you watch the Marvel movies and shows (MCU) in 2026? · TV Time has shut down: now what? The guide to not losing your shows · How much time have you really spent watching TV shows? (and how to find out) · How to track your TV shows in 2026: the complete (and free) method · In what order should you watch Star Wars in 2026? (movies + shows, without getting lost) · Why you abandon TV shows (and how to finally finish them) · Where to watch a show legally? The simple reflex (based on your country) · I moved 136 shows off TV Time: the numbers · Nolan's The Odyssey: where to watch it, and when to expect streaming · House of the Dragon season 3: every episode and where to watch · What changed on WatchTrail this summer